general motorsthis website is
funded by a grant from the civil justice
foundation

gm's
1973-1987 ck chevrolet and gmc pickups contain the most deadly design
defect
in auto history. over 1600 people have been killed in crashes
of these models involving fires. hundreds more have been maimed.

in
order to meet a demand in the marketplace for carrying more fuel
than any other truck,
gm decided to place the gas tanks on this model outside the frame rails. this
placement can easily be seen from the road as the tank hangs down below
the door on either or both sides of the truck. the tank is protected
only by the door frame and is easily crushed in a side impact or "sled-runner" collision. as
a matter of fact, any collision in these trucks can turn deadly --
not only to the driver or passenger, but to any vehicle involved in
an accident with these trucks.

1. why
did gm ignore its own long-standing engineering policy to place
fuel tanks inside the frame?

* in 1964,
a gm engineering executive issued a policy statement requiring that
all gm vehicles have their fuel tanks as near to the center of the
vehicle as practicable. in 1969, gm initial drawings for its "new" truck
(which became the c/k truck) placed the fuel tanks between the frame
rails.

* in june,
1970, the design order for developing the c/k trucks required placement
of the tanks outside of the frame, with 40 gallons capacity. gm's
chief engineer for this design has testified that the 40 gallon capacity
was a requirement placed on the design by marketing.

* after
gm management made the decision to place the fuel tanks outside the
frame, gm engineers recommended moving or shielding the tanks at least
five times -- in 1972, 1976, 1978, 1980 and 1982.

* in 1978,
a self-described "jury" of gm engineers was asked by gm design
staff to consider whether or not to move the fuel tanks for a planned
1981 redesign of the c/k trucks. that jury concluded that the
tanks should go inside the frame rails. another internal report
commissioned by gm's design engineers concluded that the worst place
to put a fuel tank is outside the frame rails and at the sides of a
vehicle.

2. did
gm know the fuel tanks were potential killers? did they work
to cover-up and suppress its knowledge?

* almost
from the beginning of sales of the new 1973 model c/k trucks, fires
resulting in severe burns began to happen. the first occurred
in december, 1973. gm also began receiving many complaints of
fuel tank failures through its insurance company and dealers.

* in 1975,
gm issued orders to its accident investigators to pay particular attention
to accidents involving c/k trucks, specifically to identify the type
and source of any fire.

* july,
1981, gm began an internal testing program in which c/k trucks - some
of which were "enhanced" to protect the gas tanks in various
ways -- were hit in the side by sedans traveling 30 and 50 miles per
hour. most tests resulted in excessive fuel spillage.

* even
though it had received several court orders and was required by law
to disclose the existence of these 1981 tests, gm refused to do so
until the summer of 1992. since that time, a flood of internal
documents obtained through court orders and testimony from gm employees
has revealed the extent of gm's internal testing and knowledge of the
flaws in its design.

* beginning
in about january, 1983, gm hired young lawyers from around the country
to locate and collect internal documents throughout the corporation
concerning the fuel system design in c/k trucks. these lawyers
were later nicknamed the "fire babies." many of the
documents collected were later determined to have been destroyed.

3. is
gm's claim that fixing the fuel system would cost $1 billion wrong?

* in 1982,
as a result of the 1981 testing, the original designer of the c/k trucks
recommended moving the fuel tanks inside the rails. his costs
analysis for plant re-tooling to do it came to $2,750,000. gm
rejected his recommendation, and proceeded to sell 2,059,000 more of
the trucks with the deadly design. if gm had done the re-tooling
in 1982, it would have cost the corporation about $1.33 per truck. and
hundreds of lives would have been saved.

* although
gm has refused to recall and fix the fuel tank problems for average
consumers, gm did retrofit the fuel tanks with protective liners for
fleet owners of the vehicles. the cost of the liner -- $15.00. the
time in labor to put the liner on -- about 15 minutes.

4. how
many people have been killed as a result of this fuel tank design?

* this
questions has been answered in many different ways. to date,
over 1600 people have been killed in c/k truck accidents involving
fires. to determine the cause of death, each accident must be
carefully analyzed by experts. sometimes even the coroner's initial
determination proves questionable. the center for auto safety
puts this number at over 800, far more than those killed by the infamous
ford pinto rear mounted gas tanks.

* the number
of people killed pales by comparison to the number of persons maimed
by this design. we have no way to determine how many people have
had limbs burned from their bodies and carry horrible scars. these
statistics are not kept by the national traffic highway safety administration. also,
those who live more than 30 days after their accident (and then perish)
are not counted. why?

saturday,
february 7, 2004 tulsa world

"general
motors corp said friday it is recalling 1.8 million cars to repair potential
problems with the ignition switch that may cause a fire.

"the
models involved are certain 1998-2001 chevrolet cavaliers and pontiac sunfires
built between march 1997 and april 2001. in addition, some 1998 pontiac
grand am, oldsmobile achieva, and buick skylark cars built between march 1997
and january 1998 are being recalled.

"the
vehicles are to be serviced to prevent high electrical current flow through
the ignition switch that may cause a fire in the steering column.

"the
automaker said there have been reports of 80 incidents of heat build-up, melted
components, smoldering parts or fires in the ignition system and steering
column. it said no injuries or fatalities have been reported."